Many companies and countries still seem to think that most children only have mothers. They talk about “maternity leave” and “flex time for mothers” and “on-ramping for new moms.” Other companies and countries have moved into an entirely new terrain, where parenthood has become a gender-neutral concept.

The example everybody knows is Sweden, where “parental leave” replaced “maternity leave” back in 1974, to “ensure that women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all areas of life.” (Italics mine). So men and women are allowed to share the almost 70 weeks of paid leave. The kicker policy is that men are obliged to take at least 8 weeks of that, or lose the benefit. Or, in gender-neutral Swedish-speak: “Each parent is entitled to two months of non-transferable benefits.” In Norway,
it’s 14 weeks. The head of one of the country’s biggest employers’ associations explains that the law “strengthens the man’s position in the family, and the woman’s in the workplace. Norway still needs it.”

There can be conflicting advice when it comes to preparing your resume; some people suggest getting creative with paper, fonts and formatting to stand out (my experience tells me recruiters don’t like that much), while others stress making sure your resume has keywords that are machine scannable (not as important as human readability).